Paris Images Location Expo Records 25% Exhibitors Hike

Event runs in conjunction with Paris Images Pro

PARIS — The 6thLocation Expo, part of the Paris Images Trade Show, opens Feb. 2 with a record number of 116 exhibitors, including 32 French locations specialists, eight studios, 15 production services companies and representations of 12 French regional film commissions.

Reps of exalted locations such as the Palace of Versailles, the Louvre, the Musée d’Orsay and the Eiffel Tower will be attending, complemented this year by 18 new exhibitors such as the Château de Villette, the Institut du Monde Arabe, Luc Besson’s Les Studios de Paris, and the town of Versailles.

The two-day event (Feb. 2 -3) will once again be held in Le Carreau du Temple, in parallel with Paris Images Pro, which features a series of discussions on Virtual Reality, 4K, and new distribution channels.

Location Expo is aimed at industry professionals from France and abroad. This year’s record level of participation is one direct result of the fact that France’s domestic and international tax rebate has been increased from 20% to 30% from the start of this year.

The event includes a showcase of the $30 million English-language French TV series “Versailles,” produced by France’s CanalPlus , Capa Drama and Zodiak Fiction which is now filming its second season.

“Versailles,” whose Palace grows into a metaphor of Louis XIV’s political and imperial ambitions, shot in multiple locations in the Ile de France region, including the Palace of Versailles, indoors and exteriors, and the castles of Vaux-Le-Vicomte, Champs-Sur-Marne, Maisons-Lafitte, Gadancourt, Janvry And Lésigny.

On Feb. 2, “One Book, One Place” will be held, organized in conjunction with leading French publisher Gallimard – in which seven books set in locations in Paris’ Ile de France region, whose rights are available, will be presented.

Recent major international productions lensed in France include the BBC TV series “Death in Paradise: Series 5” shot in Guadaloupe, and the feature film “Absolutely Fabulous,” by Mandie Fletcher, which lensed for two weeks in the South of France.

In 2014 “Hunger Games: Mockingjay,” parts 1 and 2, rolled in the Ivry-sur-Seine region, in the Paris suburbs, exploring locations with bleak Soviet-style architecture, such as the Palacio Abraxas in Noisy-Le-Grand, a massive 18-storey orthogonal building.

The presence of eight leading French studios is a significant development for Location Expo and reflects the fact that studios are betting on synergies between exterior locations and studio shooting, especially for major French and international productions, in particular TV series.

A recent example is the Eric Rochant’s spy thriller series “The Bureau,” produced by Pascal Breton’s Federation Entertainment and The Oligarchs Productions, which was backed by the Ile de France Region, and shot in various locations in the Paris Region, as well as Luc Besson’s les Studios de Paris in La Cité du Cinéma.